The anti-gunners have been painting a very unflattering picture of guns and gun owners. Granted, that’s nothing new. They have always attacked us not on the strength of their proposals, but on the vehemence of their hatred. It’s not enough that we disagree with them, we must be monsters who enjoy seeing children murdered.

Lately, however, the media has been giving them a whole lot more time to prattle on about how awful we are, and in the era of social media, that’s not something they needed. Still, they’ve been getting it.

But has it really made a difference? Well, maybe, but not the kind of difference they expected.

Issued CCW permits increased approximately 275 percent over a ten-year period, from 4.6 million permits in 2007 to over 17.25 permits in 2018, according to a study released Friday by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC). The number has been increasing year over year and is forecast to continue trending upwards.

The most notable demographic increase was found to be among women and minorities. During the aforementioned time period, CCW issuance jumped 111 percent faster for women than for men. Moreover, compared to white individuals, permits for Asian and black individuals spiked 29 percent and 20 percent quicker, respectively.

“That increase in women and minorities mirrors their changing views on guns,” John Lott, the founder of the CPRC, told Fox News. “A poll by [the] Pew [Research Center] helps to explain why there has been such a large increase in concealed handgun permits among blacks and women. The poll shows a 25 percentage point increase in the proportion of blacks with a favorable view of gun ownership. This is the largest increase of any group.”

In fact, it’s kind of like their efforts have completely backfired.

However, the increase in permits for women and minorities makes sense. Women aren’t physically able to fend off an attacker in general, not without a whole lot of training first, training that they’re likely not going to receive for various reasons. That means a gun is their best bet to keep themselves safe. We’ve been saying that for years and women have been listening.

As for minorities, well, statistically, they’re the most likely to be the victims of a violent crime. Many live in either high crime neighborhoods or near such neighborhoods. They may well have grown up in a time when violence was the norm. Now, they want to protect themselves and their families from the predators in their midst.

That is, of course, in addition to any of the usual reasons people carry. After all, everyone has a reason, and they’re not even close to all being the same.

The important thing to understand here is that every one of those permits represents someone who has rejected the narrative that guns kill, that the narrative that more guns mean more crimes and that we’d be better off if everyone just put their guns away because bad people will become nice, productive members of society without one.

Of course, it should have been rejected by anyone with a functional brain, but we’re talking about anti-gunners here.